"Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, 'Serpensortia!' The end of his wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them and raised itself, ready to strike."

1992

The cobra used by Draco.

It was used by Draco Malfoy while engaging in a practice duel against Harry Potter in 1992 in the Duelling Club, after Severus Snape whispered the advice to Draco. This prompted Harry to speak to the snake, discovering for the first time that he was a Parselmouth and causing some other students to suspect that he was the Heir of Slytherin. It is very strange that Malfoy is able to cast this spell in his second year as it summons a live creature, a very advanced form of magic not taught at Hogwarts until sixth year, however, this may have been because it seems to be a sort of curse.[3]

Etymology

Serpens is Latin for "serpent". Ortus is the past participle of the Latin verb oriri "to be created".[4]

It is possible that this spell or a variant of it can also be used to transform objects into snakes. Lord Voldemort transformed a fiery rope into a serpent in 1996, and Severus Snape did the same two years later. Both serpents were described as black, matching the Serpensortia snake´s colour.